Archive for January, 2013

I received an interesting email the other day.
It was from a sales trainer thanking me for volunteering to test his new app.
Innocent enough; right?
Until you take into account that I never promised him anything nor had I ever spoken to him (more on that in a minute)
I responded and asked how/when I volunteered for that.
Confession […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

*This quote accounts for a half hour design time. Additional design time will be billed at our Standard Hourly Rate of 0/hr.

NOTE: Prices are subject to change.

We will be recording each session (slides and all) so this way you can go at your own pace.
Every time we host one of our online Sales School programs, someone sends me one of those “Damn I missed it again” emails.
I thought I’d send out a final reminder that we have to stop all enrollments […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

This is the second part of a four-part series about how to get the best of social media. Check out the first part about Facebook and stay tuned for the rest!

What should I know about Twitter?

Twitter is a fantastic tool for individual social outreach as well as a broader advertising medium. As you may already be aware, messages on this website are called “tweets” and they are limited to 140 characters of text. Because the posts are so short, people tend to share updates more frequently.

This is a fast-paced social network, so don’t expect people to see every single one of your posts. While it may seem shallow and time-consuming to the casual observer, it is surely a powerful way to keep your finger on the social pulse of your industry. Having a direct way to connect with consumers for feedback can be an invaluable tool.

Once you are all set up with a Twitter account, you can post messages describing the services you offer, you can retweet posts from other Twitter users, or interact directly with specific individuals (for example, people who tweet about needing your products). Include hash tags in your tweets for broader exposure. For example, a band might tweet: “#WhatToDoTonight come to our gig!” These hash tags are ways for Twitter users to search for tweets about a specific topic. Users generate their own hashtags, so get creative!

This is one of those posts where we could have easily kept adding things to a list and ended up with a mammoth list of things you need to do to be successful in sales.
I thought it might be better for me to put on my Captain Obvious cape and break it down to 3 […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

Download this episode (right click and save)
As good as we’d all like to think we are, we miss opportunities and leave the proverbial “money on the table”. Not a great place to be for an aspiring sales rock star and that’s why I have 5 ideas to get you […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

So your company has decided to join the internet bandwagon and you want to create an online presence for your brand. The problem is, you have no idea where to start. There are a variety of different online channels that your brand can use to shine, so it helps to get an idea of how best to take advantage of what is happening online.

Let’s talk about Facebook.

Facebook is currently the social hotspot of the internet for many people and businesses. It is easy to share almost any kind of content on Facebook, whether you are posting text, links, photos or videos; and users can easily leave feedback on your posts. There are endless plug-in options for customizing your profile or page, and it is a great way to put a friendly, relatable human face on the employees in your company.

If you have to choose just one social network to represent your business, Facebook is the most versatile and popular, so it seems like a logical choice. However, Facebook users can be very private people and many may not allow your brand to infiltrate their social network, thanks to a set of very complex security settings. The classic “cold call” approach does not tend to work on Facebook, as people are very wary of strangers approaching with offers and very protective of their personal and private information.

Excuses, excuses. They’re so easy to make. Blogging is an important part of any SEO plan, yet so many companies and individuals make excuses instead of blog posts. Here are my personal five favorite reasons that people avoid blogging.

I don’t have anything to say. Yes, you do! You just don’t know it yet. If you run a business and you can’t think of anything to say about it, you either have a really weird secret business or you never learned how to speak. Everybody has something to say about their business. Whether your blog articles feature the different services you offer or delve into topics that aren’t necessarily sales-related, you definitely have something to say. Great topics are company history, relevant industry news, case studies of work you’ve done for your clients, and so much more.

I’m not good at writing. There are so many free writing tools available online that you don’t have to be good at writing to make a blog post. These days you never have to worry about spellcheck and only occasionally about grammar. If you’re still not confident about your writing ability, just make a bulleted list and add a sentence or two about each point. Actually, who says your blog even needs words? If you have photos of your products or services, just throw those into your blog with a few descriptive sentences or captions.

I don’t have time. You’ve got just as much time in your day as Einstein and all the other geniuses before you, and think of everything they managed to accomplish! Blogging doesn’t have to be a long, torturous event. Keep a running list of topics so you never have to sit and brainstorm. Steal moments while you’re just going to be waiting anyway, like in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, and compose brief blog articles. Schedule half an hour or an hour into your weekly agenda (or daily, or monthly- it’s up to you) and you’ll find that it’s easier than you think to stick to the schedule.

I don’t feel like it right now. When will you feel like it? Who is going to make you feel like it? The only person who can motivate you is you. If a blog would be good for business, then make yourself feel like it. Sorry, but this excuse is weaker than weak.

I don’t know how. Blogging is easier than ever before, with a great multitude of different sites that have streamlined the blog setup process for beginner bloggers. Here at inConcert Web Solutions, we’re pretty fond of WordPress and everything it’s capable of (which is a lot!) If you need help setting up a blog, please don’t hesitate to call us today and we’ll be glad to get you started.

Somewhere along the line, it became acceptable to argue cold calling vs all the other things you can do to generate business.
I’ve never been a fan of that discussion because it presupposes that its one vs the other and you can’t do all of the above.
That’s a great way to limit your options and in […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

I have a file in my inbox for blog posts and articles that I need to read.
Some of them are from the biggest names out there and I consider them valuable resources and yet . . . their thoughts remain in a file, unopened.
There are many others that never make it to “the file” because […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

Download this episode (right click and save)
We often talk about “providing value” “giving value” “offering value” and sprinkle in some “value added” for good measure.
Meanwhile . . . we could be missing the whole point!
This week, we’re tackle 5 things that you need to understand when it comes to value!
Here’s what you’ll […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

Download this episode (right click and save)
We often talk about “providing value” “giving value” “offering value” and sprinkle in some “value added” for good measure.
Meanwhile . . . we could be missing the whole point!
This week, we’re tackle 5 things that you need to understand when it comes to value!
Here’s what you’ll […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

inConcert Web Solutions will be closed Monday, January 21st. Our office will reopen on Tuesday, January 22nd. All website maintenance requests and website changes that are requested within this time period will be completed upon our reopening in the order that they were received.

What better way to communicate to your audience that you do your job well than straight out of the mouths of the people who have already experienced it? Testimonials are advertising gold. Sometimes you can be surprised by the things your satisfied customers will say because you would never have thought they would notice such attention to detail or appreciate such small things. You have to keep in mind that your customers are probably not as experienced in the industry as you are, and their perspective is definitely very different than your perspective. Therefore, it stands to reason that their honest opinion of your work may resonate with other potential customers better than your polished and commercial take on the same situation.

Don’t be afraid to ask your clients for recommendations or testimonials. If you’ve done your job right, they will most likely be happy to help. If you have a mailing list of your customers and you provide a regular service, it wouldn’t hurt to send out an evaluation request on a yearly basis. Feedback is not going to collect itself. If you are lucky, you might get the occasional customer who is so pleased with you that they can’t help but send you a grateful email, elaborating on all the ways you’ve helped, but if you’re expecting those types of emails to start flooding your inbox, don’t hold your breath.

Collect these testimonials in an internal document, like an Excel spreadsheet. Keep the contact information for the people who sent them to you. They may be willing to let you send future prospects their way so that they can confirm the validity of their testimonial statement. You’ll be able to use these quotes in many different avenues of advertising. You can post them on your Facebook page as statuses or add them as the descriptions to photos of the project in your portfolio. Your website should have a testimonials section so that visitors can read a selection of approving quotes. You can include these quotes in email blasts, in blog articles, and even in print advertising. Don’t be afraid to use them. You’ve earned it!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’m a big advocate of using a “sales mix”.
A “sales mix” is simply a mix of sales activities utilized to secure new or expand upon existing business.
Here’s something really cool you can do with that mix.
Make sure, your efforts “smile” at each other.
No, […]

Prior to working for Consolidated Graphics. Paul was the Director Of Corporate Solutions Sales for Dale Carnegie & Associates and the owner of two successful businesses.

Over the last 27 years, Paul has trained and mentored over 3,000 sales professionals, written sales training content for several Fortune 500 companies and is the author of Castain’s Sales Playbook (which just won a Sales Pop award for best sales website).

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